Eucalyptus viminalis

A gum-eucalypt potentially reaching 40+ metres, though usually much shorter.

It is widespread and abundant, in grassy woodland or forest on fertile loamy soils in higher rainfall areas, from South Australia around the east coast to Queensland.

It is found on the slopes, tablelands and coastal areas of NSW. In Sydney, it may be found on the outskirts in the western suburbs on alluvial and clay soils. It is a common tree in the Southern Highlands and western rural creeklines.

The trunk has brown fibrous bark at the base and smooth white limbs up above. Trees typically shed long ribbons of bark which get caught in the forks.

Eucalyptus spp. have simple and usually alternate adult leaves with juvenile leaves starting off opposite to alternate (disjunct). In this species, juvenile leaves are opposite, strongly narrow-lanceolate and dull green, about 9 cm long and 2 cm wide. The shape is a useful identification feature. Adult leaves are lanceolate to 20 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, green and glossy.

The primary inflorescence of “eucalypts” (Angophora / Corymbia / Eucalyptus) is an umbellaster (an umbel-like cluster of flowers). In the flowers of Corymbia and Eucalyptus, the petals and sepals are fused into the distinctive calyptra / operculum (bud cap) which is shed when the flower opens (in some species, 2 bud caps (opercula) are shed). The flowers are conspicuously staminate – where many stamens are basically taking over the role of the petals, all surrounding one central carpel. In this species, the buds are carried in clusters of three (which aids identification enromously), to about 9 mm long and 6 mm wide. The creamy-white flowers are about 2 cm across.

The fruit of eucalypts are a woody capsule (commonly called ‘gum nuts’) which come in a wide variety of shapes with the top part having a sunken, flat or raised disc and with the valves inserted, disc-level, exserted to strongly exserted. In this species, they are rounded to about 9 mm diameter.